Page 10

Never in a million years would Kade have guessed at Jess’s life before she’d fallen into the lap of Sister’s Edge.

No wonder she’d stayed.

No wonder.

Sister’s Edge was probably the steadiest she’d ever felt, and so it was easy to overlook the bad in a place if she couldn’t understand good. Chaos was probably familiar.

God, what a woman. What a strong woman to have gone through what she’d gone through, in almost a constant fashion. And then the accident, on top of everything else, and the loss of her animal as she’d known her.

And she could still smile.

Kade’s heart was hammering in his chest as he grabbed a pair of bottled sodas from the fridge.

He’d watched her through the window, and she’d shrunk to the side, expression on her face haunted. She needed a minute, and he understood. He needed a damn minute too.

God, she was strong. Did she realize how damn sexy she was? She’d locked her legs against every storm in her life and was still standing, and never in her story did she describe anyone behind her keeping her upright. That woman was a powerhouse.

The cut on his palm tingled, and he clenched and unclenched his fist to rid himself of the sensation. It had been doing that a lot over the last few days.

He pushed open the ice cream freezer near the cash register and pulled out a couple of the Drumsticks Jess had described.

As he was paying out, a familiar engine sound filled his senses. He looked over at the gas pumps knowing what he would find there.

Wreck was pulling up to pump number four. Kade tossed another Drumstick into the pile on a whim. He paid for their snacks and then made his way outside.

“Come here,” Kade called to Jess. “I want you to meet someone.”

Jess looked confused but stood and caught up with him easily enough. He handed her an ice cream from the bag, and then before she’d even had time to respond, he ducked around gas pump number four.

“I knew I smelled shit around here,” Wreck said without missing a beat as he pumped gas into his truck.

He swung a smile to Kade and then looked surprised to see Jess standing just behind his shoulder.

Kade chuckled and handed him an ice cream. “Insulting me while I’m bringing you a present—that’s messed up, man.”

“I’m sorry for my language,” Wreck said as he offered a hand to Jess. “You must be Jess.”

“H-hi. Yes, I’m Jess,” she said, shaking his hand. She flinched back and gasped, shaking her hand. “You’re a dragon?”

“Crap, sorry,” Wreck murmured, looking down at his hand with a frown. “I never burn anyone anymore. I don’t even feel hot, or worked up.”

Kade reached out and touched Wreck’s palm, but it was cool to the touch. “You aren’t hot.” He swung his gaze to Jess. “Do you get a feeling for what shifters are?”

“Umm,” she said, shifting her weight uncomfortably. “I don’t know. It happens sometimes. Mostly with fire shifters. Water shifters, too. Raynah’s handshake made me feel like I was drowning at first.”

“Well, you’d be fun at a party,” Wreck said.

“Ha, I don’t know about that,” she said shyly. “I’m Kade’s friend. From his old life.”

“Oh!” Kade said, and clapped Wreck in the chest. “This is my Alpha. This is Wreck.”

“You…” Her eyes got big. “You just introduced me to your Alpha. And pushed his chest.”

Kade chuckled. “He’s a little different than Derek.”

“Kade and Cash told me a little about Derek. Sounds like a douche.” Wreck pulled the gas nozzle out of his truck and grabbed his receipt. “Are you coming out tonight?” he asked Kade.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Yeah well, the guys are all going. They’ll be blowing up your phone all night if you don’t make an appearance. Cash is calling it ‘team building barhopping.’”

“God, he gets weirder and weirder.”

Wreck laughed and unwrapped his ice cream as he leaned his shoulder against the bed of his truck. “His heart is probably in the right place. Look, if you don’t show up, there is a ninety-five percent chance he will turn into his owl, and fly to wherever you are, and then Change back, and while he is naked, he will give you a dumb speech about being a good Crew member. If you don’t want to see that man’s dick today, I would suggest you make some time for guys’ night.”

Kade was already tired.

Wreck clapped him on the shoulder and nodded to Jess. “Does Raynah have your number?”

“Yes. I know Raynah. We had lunch together and she got my number.”

“Good. I bet Timber and the girls all have it by now. If you need anything while you’re here, reach out. I mean it.” Wreck held up his Drumstick to Kade. “Thanks for the childhood memory, man.”

“You got it. See you in a bit,” Kade muttered begrudgingly. He wasn’t up for the Cash-speech-and-dick-show tonight, but truth be told, he wished he could just find an excuse to hang with Jess.

Wreck pulled away and waved out his open window.

“Your Alpha is a very polite dragon,” Jess murmured as she watched Wreck drive away.

“He’s not a dragon,” Kade told her, waving back. “He’s worse.” Kade opened the bag and showed her the matching sodas in there.

“For me?” she asked.

“Yep. We should head back. I have to go home soon.”

“What’s your home like?” she asked, curiosity painting her tone.

“It’s an a-frame cabin. It’s got a loft bedroom and a big open living room to a nice kitchen. It looks like one of those magazine homes.”

“Fancy,” she said softly as they swung out onto the sidewalk to head back toward her neighborhood…er…Garret’s neighborhood for his rental house.

“Too fancy for me at first,” Kade said around a bite of ice cream. He recalled the first time he’d seen it. “I was used to a small prison cell I shared with a cellmate, and all the sudden I had this nice home, and stability, and people telling me there were no strings attached. Well, I had to pay rent every month, but then Damon Daye went after the prison immediately, and he got money for every single one of us. It’s hush money as far as I can tell. The Prison paid us off to keep their secrets, but that didn’t really matter. Damon got us all a shit-ton of money, and then he went after Cold Foot Prison anyway. It’s getting a complete overhaul. Now that dragon…he’s a boss and for good reason. I didn’t know much about him personally before I watched him make sure Wreck had everything he needed to get us to a good place. I bet he takes care of all of the Crews in his mountains the same way.”

“Why would he do that for Wreck?”

“Because Wreck is helping the blue dragon expand his territory. I don’t know why Damon’s dragon is needing that now, but he does. It’s called Wreck’s Mountains, but Damon is behind the push to secure the territory.”

“You talk about all of this way too easily. You should be more careful,” she warned him.

“I haven’t talked about it outside of the Cold Foot Crew except for with you. Are you going to talk about it?” he asked. The answer mattered, but he already knew it. She understood the other side of betrayal.

“No,” she uttered honestly.

“Then I guess I’m okay talking about it with you. You told me personal stuff. Now you know I can’t blab about your history. You have information about the people I love.”

“People you love,” she repeated softly.

He startled internally. Love . He hadn’t said that word in a very long time, but just now, he’d said it so easily, without even noting it. “Yeah,” he said. “I guess I feel that way for the people in my Crew. They piss me off and get on my nerves every day ending in Y, but I would take a bullet for any of them. And lately, I think they feel the same about me. I think that’s the way a Crew is designed to be.”

The frown etched onto Jess’s pretty face as she quietly ate her ice cream down to the last bite said she was mulling it over.

Sister’s Edge wasn’t like that.

Kade knew it, and so did she.

He didn’t need to put thoughts in her head though. Manipulation was a Sister’s Edge move. She needed space to figure everything out on her own.

He started counting the minutes down as they reached her street, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to leave. Already, his phone was vibrating away in his back pocket, and it was probably the guys asking where he was.

“Thank you for hanging out with me,” she said as they reached her door. She unlocked it and then hesitated on the porch. “And thank you for the ice cream. And the soda,” she said, holding up the drink she’d taken from the gas station bag. “And also for being happy for me about the job.” She inhaled deep, and he could see the pretty pink blush in her cheeks.

“You’re welcome for all of it.”

“There is a bet going on how long it takes you boys to message the girls of Cold Foot,” she said. “Just so you know.”

“Mmm. Did you make a bet?”

A pretty smile stretched her full lips. “Maybe.”

“What did you bet?”

“Can’t tell you. That’s cheating.”

He dropped his head and grinned. God, he didn’t want to leave. If he was honest with himself, he wanted to kiss her. He’d wanted to earlier, but he was trying to give her enough space to figure her shit out. But after all she’d told him, he felt closer to her, and he wanted it. He wanted to taste her, and to push her back into the house and get her lost. He wanted to turn off that big, beautiful mind of hers and tether her to him.

The scar on his palm tingled, and at the same time he clenched his fist, she clenched hers. Huh.

“Tingling?” he guessed.

She looked down at her palm and clenched it again. “It’s fine.”

Mmm hmm. “Okay, Cactus. You stay out of trouble tonight.”

“You’re the one going barhopping.”

He laughed and backed up a couple steps. “I’ll send you a picture of how wild we get.”

“I’ll send you a picture of how wild it gets here. Me and my boyfriend.”

“Oh yeah, and who’s that?”

“Me and my firepit.”

God, his grin probably looked so dumb right now. Should he tell her? Should he admit he would do stupid things just for the chance to spend a night with her at that firepit?

He cleared his throat and did a little salute and then forced himself to turn away and head for his truck.

Jess’s arms slid around him. She hugged him from behind, and Kade staggered to a stop, and slipped his hands over hers to hold her there. He swayed them and rolled his eyes closed at how damn good this felt, her tits all smashed against his back, gifting him the embrace he hadn’t known he needed.

“I’m thankful for what you did,” she whispered thickly.

“What did I do?” he asked as he opened his eyes to look at his truck.

“You came back for me.”

She squeezed him tighter and then told him, “Don’t make this harder. Just leave.”

So, he stayed stock still as she slipped her arms from him and he listened to the hollow, retreating click-clack of her flip flops as she made her way into the house.

His heart had never hammered so hard as it did now.

He’d wanted to kiss her. He’d wanted it so badly, but somehow, someway, she’d made that hug feel even more intimate than any kiss ever had.

Oh, she had him. She had all of him.

He was in it deep now.

The door to the house closed, and Kade forced himself to get into his truck and drive away.

Don’t make this harder.

Too late. He knew he would be messaging her as soon as he thought he could. He would be back here, looking for excuses to see her.

He’d thought she was interesting all those years ago?

Now, things had changed.

Now, Jess was impossible to stay away from.